


Crow on the Cradle

by Tabithian



Series: Light the Path [21]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU, DCU (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-27
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-17 11:21:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4664661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tabithian/pseuds/Tabithian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's a plan for situations like this, Jason remembers that much.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Crow on the Cradle

**Author's Note:**

> Anon asked for Robin!Jason and Damian, and uh. I hope this is what they meant? IDK, long day guys, sorry. /o\

There's a plan for situations like this, Jason remembers that much.

There were also contingency plans. A _lot_ of those because Bruce – 

“Huh.”

Somehow, none of those contingency plans accounted for this.

Dead bodies, sure, why not, considering where they are. (Somewhere, Bruce is getting the urge to lecture on the sanctity of life, and doesn't know why.)

Bruce Wayne's kid getting grabbed off the street? Sure, yeah, happened to Dick a time or two. (And boy did those idiots regret it.)

Bruce Wayne's kid being taken to some hidden compound by one of Batman's worst enemies? Of course. (And really, there's just the one, and it's just a complicated mess, really.)

Some kind of coup being staged against the nutjob running the place? Jason vaguely recalls there being something about that in one of the contingency plans, again, because _Bruce_.

Jason doesn't really know how long it's been since he was grabbed, but he's doing pretty okay on the first stage of the plan. Which basically boils down to Jason getting himself the hell out of there.

He's been dodging people trying to skewer him with swords and the ones who like to stab people apparently. One or two without any real finesse taking shots at him.

Jason guesses the guys who were standing guard here weren't so lucky.

It's like.

It's part lab, part mental institution part bad movie. 

Very clinical, stark.

Jason sighs, looks towards a corner of the lab, wonders if Bruce is going to come up with new contingency plans based on this. (Odds are good, yeah.)

Because - 

There's a kid. Really freaking tiny and glaring up at him. Jason will hand it to the squirt, his grip on the knife he's holding isn't half bad.

Jason had watched him struggle with the sword from one of the fallen assassin-guards before the kid had given up and gone for the knife instead, which. 

Not one of his brightest ideas, Jason knows now.

“Hey, kiddo - “

Jason breaks off at the growl that gets him, holds his hands up. “Okay, okay, I get it. You don't like that, do you?”

More glaring, the kid trying to move closer to the lab door, but no, nope.

“Sorry,” Jason says, slides to stand in front of it.

There are ninja and other various assassins out there, not to mention Ra's, and Talia. Bruce is out there too, probably, there's too much chaos for him not to be, really. And good God, Jason never wants to do this again because Ra's and Talia and Bruce and it's like those stupid reality shows Dick forces him to watch.

Only with more ninja and various assassins, and Jason's getting offtrack. (The dead bodies, though, could really apply to both.)

“What's your name?”

The kid's tiny, maybe four or five, which. Kids are usually being shipped off to kindergarten around then, right? That's old enough to be talking, isn't it? Jason should know this, It's obvious but he can't remember and seriously hopes it's because of whatever the hell they gave him, because _shit_.

Even if the kid's not old enough to be talking, he's clearly old enough to try to use a damn sword against Jason, and realize that hey, wow, no. Being able to lift the damn thing might be useful. But, oh, look, a _knife_.

Jason really hopes there wasn't any poison on that knife because the cut on his leg burns like a _mother_. If Jason makes it out of here, he's going to sit Dick and Bruce down and seriously talk about redesigning the damn Robin suit, this shit's just ridiculous.

The kid wrinkles his nose, _sneers_.

“Nice,” Jason says.

“Tt.”

Jason watches the kid slide into a clumsy fight stance, knife held out in front of him, teeth bared and he's growling again and - 

Jason rubs a hand over his face, wonders how mad Bruce would be if he just knocks the kid out. Not, like, with his fists or anything, no, Jason's not that much of an asshole, just. 

He has tranqs on him somewhere, he's pretty sure.

********

Christ, it was a _joke_.

********

Jason doesn't end up knocking the kid out – seriously, Jason's not that much of an asshole – but he's grateful for the gloves, okay? And the cape, and -

“Robin.”

Jason freezes, turns around to see Bruce materialize out of the shadows.

Crap.

Jason looks down when the kid growls, sees two tiny eyes trying to bore a hole through his head. Looks up at Bruce, who - 

“I can explain?”

He can't, really.

“Can you.”

Jason sighs, holds the kid out to Bruce.

Bruce looks down at the poor kid, wrapped up tight in Jason's cape like a burrito. 

In Jason's defense, the section of the compound the creepy weird lab the kid was hiding in (living in, but Jason's not going to think about that) was kind of on fire at the time. And the kid's tiny, couldn't keep up with Jason and the ceiling was falling – aflame and falling – and - 

It was just easier, wrapping the kid up like that and carrying him, and Jason better not have scars from this, from the little brat's teeth. (And really, it was just all-over easier leaving the kid wrapped up the way he is.)

“Sort of,” Jason winces, when the kid manages to get the bottom half of his face free of Jason's cape. “Careful, he bites.”

********

The kid is _staring_ at him.

“What?”

“Tt.”

It's the only thing the kid's said to him that even remotely comes close to English, and yes, okay, there are a whole slew of languages Jason's working on learning, but.

Things happen.

Like, say.

Crime.

Or some of Ra's ninja grabbing Jason on his way home from school and Jason doing his best to keep from getting killed, and really, things happen, okay?

Things like Bruce taking off to find Talia because the kid claims to be Bruce's, and the whole aftermath of that, and Jason. He's not going to lie, say he doesn't feel like he's on shaky ground right now, because Bruce's _kid_.

Actual, biological kid, and he gets why Dick is back in Blüdhaven, because he and Jason are still trying to work through the whole thing where Bruce didn't tell Jason what the name Robin even means, and this - 

Yeah, this.

This is why Jason is stuck here with the brat staring at him, which is actually a step up from the glaring, so that's good.

But Bruce is looking for answers, Dick's terrorizing the criminal underground of Blüdhaven, and Alfred.

Alfred is Alfred, but even that only goes so far, and he has a lot of shit to do running the manor and deal with his 

Jason's down in the Batcave for a few hours now. Working out some pent up stress, anger, Jason doesn't even know anymore, and looks over to see the kid staring at him.

Jason knew the brat would find his way down here eventually. He turns to the kid, eyes narrowing. Takes a step towards the kid and watches him tense up.

Or.

Not tense up so much as - 

“Kid, what the hell are you doing down here?”

The kid – okay, fine, Christ - _Damian_ , raises his chin, but his eyes can't quite stay on Jason's. Kind of slide away, and back, like he's checking - 

“Dammit,” Jason mutters when he sees the wary frown on Damian's face from the corner of his eye.

And here's the thing, okay.

There's.

You look out for kids.

That's it, you just. 

You look out for them because there are a lot of fucked up people in the world and kids. They're _kids_ , no one should have to explain why you look out for them, you just _do_ or you're no better than the assholes who want to hurt them.

“You were pretty good with that knife back at the compound.”

Damian's eyes snap to Jason's.

The frown's back, deeper, his hands clenching into fists before he catches himself. Frown melting into that arrogant expression that just. 

God, so _irritating_.

“You need to work on your hand-to-hand, though,” Jason says, cocks his head towards the mats.

Little bit of an eyebrow twitch going on there, and Jason can see Damian wants to say something about that, but.

Kid's not talking, or at least he's not talking to Jason, or Alfred. Just Bruce, and Bruce isn't here at the moment, and what the hell is Jason even doing? Damian's probably going to come after Jason in his sleep.

Damian snorts, loses some of the stiffness and walks towards Jason, slow, wary. Keeps out of arm's reach as he circles around him, Jason turning to watch him.

Settles into that fight stance, sloppy, but Damian's what, five at most? Even is he was being raised with ninja and assassins as babysitters (it had to have happened at least once), that's pretty young to have the necessary control.

Eventually Damian comes to a stop, looks up at Jason, this look of _why,_ on his face.

And Jason looks at this kid, who looks a hell of a lot like Bruce. Looks at him and feels the way the ground under his feet isn't as stable as it used to be because Jason can never forget what he is, the world won't let him forget, but.

Damian's this little monster of a brat, yeah, but he's a _kid_.

Jason laughs, rolls his shoulders. “Hell if I know, brat.”


End file.
